On social media, dozens of videos extol the virtues of sleeping with adhesive tape over your mouth. However, this has no scientific guarantee.
Published
Reading time: 2 min
It’s a trend that’s making the rounds on social media: “mouth taping.” In plain French, “sticking your mouth shut.” As its name suggests, it involves putting a piece of adhesive tape on your lips at night to supposedly help you sleep better and increase your breathing capacity.
The practice is even promoted by great athletes like the British Adam Burgess, silver medalist in canoe slalom at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In an interview with Sky Sports, the athlete said that it was thanks to this that he was able to win his medal: “I’ve been doing this for seven or eight years.he says. Correcting my breathing when I was 25 was decisive for me. It allowed me to stay physically and mentally fit and improve my performance.”
In truth, there is no scientific proof of the supposed virtues of “mouth taping”. Armelle Rancillac, a neuroscience researcher at Inserm, the National Institute of Health and Medical Research, and a sleep specialist, assures franceinfo that taping your mouth is not a solution to improve your sleep.
Not only does it not stop snoring, it does not help fight sleep apnea, but on the contrary it can even be quite dangerous because by forcing your mouth shut, you prevent yourself from breathing. We block an airway, therefore it is even more difficult to oxygenate our lungs and brain.
Furthermore, if our nose were to become blocked during the night, we would no longer have an emergency airway, and it is not certain that we could remove the adhesive tape in our sleep, particularly during REM sleep when the muscles lose tone.
@franceinfo It’s been a viral trend since this summer: taping your mouth before falling asleep to breathe only through your nose. According to its followers, this improves the quality of sleep. Is it really effective and safe? #learnontiktok #mouthtaping ♬ original sound – Franceinfo
Others claim that sticking a piece of adhesive tape over your mouth helps you lose weight, which is also unproven, or improves dental hygiene, which is marginal because fewer bacteria enter the mouth.
Actress Gwyneth Paltrow, known for her penchant for esoteric healing, has spoken about it. Tennis champion Iga Swiatek was even seen playing tennis with tape on her lips to supposedly breathe better, as reported by the newspaper The Parisian a year ago. However, it is worth repeating that “mouth taping” is a bad idea. This is false information, like dozens of others circulating on social networks.
Every year, there is a new belief about sleep, notes Armelle Rancillac, who recalls “brain tapping.” A method of tapping on certain areas of the head and body to fall asleep quickly, which was popular on social media in 2023. Not only is it ineffective, according to her, but it’s like slapping yourself before going to sleep.